Traders Purchase High Volume of Pacific Biosciences of California Call Options (NASDAQ:PACB)

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PACB) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors bought 31,944 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 477% compared to the average volume of 5,533 call options.

Insider Activity at Pacific Biosciences of California

In other Pacific Biosciences of California news, insider Oene Mark Van sold 34,405 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.03, for a total transaction of $69,842.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,597,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,242,831.62. This represents a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PACB. Softbank Group CORP. bought a new stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,426,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 66.9% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 17,065,331 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $31,230,000 after acquiring an additional 6,840,953 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,962,000. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 36,044,362 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $65,961,000 after acquiring an additional 2,637,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Koss Olinger Consulting LLC boosted its position in shares of Pacific Biosciences of California by 150.0% during the 4th quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC now owns 2,000,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,660,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200,000 shares during the last quarter.

Pacific Biosciences of California Stock Performance

Shares of PACB stock traded up $0.02 on Tuesday, hitting $1.87. 19,725,774 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,722,295. The company has a current ratio of 9.74, a quick ratio of 8.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $512.12 million, a PE ratio of -1.28 and a beta of 1.92. Pacific Biosciences of California has a one year low of $1.16 and a one year high of $6.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $1.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.79.

Pacific Biosciences of California (NASDAQ:PACB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.20). Pacific Biosciences of California had a negative return on equity of 42.71% and a negative net margin of 227.69%. The business had revenue of $39.22 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.20 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.27) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Pacific Biosciences of California will post -0.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank cut their price target on Pacific Biosciences of California from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Pacific Biosciences of California from $2.00 to $2.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Pacific Biosciences of California from $1.75 to $1.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $2.50 price target on shares of Pacific Biosciences of California in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Pacific Biosciences of California to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.83.

Pacific Biosciences of California Company Profile

Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc designs, develops, and manufactures sequencing solution to resolve genetically complex problems. The company provides sequencing systems; consumable products, including single molecule real-time (SMRT) technology; long-red sequencing; and various reagent kits designed for specific workflow, such as preparation kit to convert DNA into SMRTbell double-stranded DNA library formats, including molecular biology reagents, such as ligase, buffers, and exonucleases.